1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a document processing system which can automatically lay out image data such as figures, tables, and the like at appropriate positions in document data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional document processing system such as a wordprocessor, when image data such as figures and/or tables is laid out and embedded in a document created by the system, for example, a blank space is inserted in text data constituting a document, and image data of a figure and/or table is attached to the space. With this method, however, each time document data is edited later, the layout operation must be performed.
A function of setting a blank region in document data, e.g., a blank-open function or a region designation function, is provided to a wordprocessor. With this function, the image region is permanently laid out to a specific portion in a specific page. However, in this method, when document data is edited after the image region is laid out, a reference portion of a figure and/or table in text data is considerably separated from the fixed image region in a page, and the correspondence therebetween cannot be easily grasped. Such a case occurs when document data before the reference portion of the figure and/or table is greatly increased or decreased.
In this manner, when a blank space is formed at a given position on a page, if document data is edited thereafter, the position or size of the space in text data must be changed.
In contrast to this, blank lines are inserted in text data to keep an image region in text data. In this case, if document data is edited, the blank space is moved together with the text data, and the reference portion of a figure and/or table in document data can be prevented from being separated from a layout position of the figure and/or table. In this case, however, if these blank lines extend across two pages, the image region also extends across two pages, and the positions of the blank lines must be changed.
When a document is created using a wordprocessor, image data of an existing figure and/or table is often merged in document data. In this case, the size of image data is checked beforehand, and a space corresponding to the image size must be inserted in the document data, resulting in very cumbersome processing. If the size of the image data is changed, the size of the space in the document data must be changed.
In the conventional system as described above, (1) if an image region is permanently set at a position in a given page of document data, the relation between a text and a figure and/or table is often changed by editing of document data, and a cumbersome operation is required to obtain the correct relation. (2) If blank lines are inserted in text data, a set of blank lines for laying out a figure and/or table often extends across two pages by editing of document data, and a cumbersome operation is required to obtain the correct relation. (3) When a space for fetching image data is set in document data, the size of the image data must be checked, and this operation is also cumbersome. (4) When the size of image data is changed, the size of a space in document data must also be changed.